Freiburg opened their Bundesliga campaign with a 4:1 victory over Werder Bremen at the SC Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The hosts, who sat seventh in the previous season's table, took all three points from the opening fixture of the new campaign. Werder, who finished fifteenth last time around, could only manage a consolation reply. The result gives Freiburg an early advantage in what promises to be a competitive season.
Y. Suzuki announced himself early, breaking the deadlock in the twenty-ninth minute. To be fair, the home side had been probing, but it took the Japanese forward to find the net. I. Matanovic added a second just before the break, sending Werder's defence into disarray. Suzuki then struck twice in quick succession after the interval, first in the forty-eighth minute and again five minutes later. By then, the match was effectively over, though Werder refused to lie down.
Werder's only response came through D. Stalmach in the seventy-sixth minute, a rare bright spot in an otherwise difficult afternoon. The visitors had made changes early, bringing on J. Beste and S. Lynen at the hour mark, but could not find their rhythm. Freiburg also reshuffled, with J. Njinmah and N. Fullkrug arriving together in the sixty-first minute. The home side had already secured their position, so the substitutions were more about managing legs than changing the game.
Freiburg dominated possession at 53 per cent and created more clear-cut opportunities, with three big chances compared to Werder's two. Their expected goals figure of 1.94 tells you they were the more threatening side, while Werder's 0.48 suggests they struggled to generate real danger. Freiburg shot ten times from outside the penalty area alone, while their accuracy rate of 26 per cent means they did not need to be surgical. Werder, meanwhile, made 28 tackles to Freiburg's nine, a sign of how often they had to recover.
The result means Freiburg start the season with momentum, having won their last five matches across all competitions. Werder's recent form has been mixed, with a 2:2 draw against Paderborn among their results. The home side's efficiency was perhaps the story of the day — five shots on target for four goals is a return few teams can match. And here's the thing, such starts often define how a season unfolds.
